Felon's arrest leads Norwalk police to firearm, narcotics

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, February 24, 2009

A follow-up on the arrest of a 19-year-old convicted felon for sale of narcotics led police to a stolen pistol, more narcotics and items used for packaging narcotics.

Court records show that police searched Peter Ferraro's room in his mother's house after his Feb. 9 arrest and found a .22 caliber pistol, an item used for stealing credit card numbers, heroin, marijuana and multiple products used for packaging narcotics.

He was arrested on a warrant Friday for firearms and narcotics related charges but information on his arrest was unavailable from police.

Ferraro, 19, of 38 Tierny St., was arraigned in court Tuesday and his bond was raised $500 to $75,500. He is scheduled to appear in court again on March 9.

Ferraro was originally arrested Feb. 9, after police allegedly observed him making a drug transaction at a Mobil gas station on East Avenue. Police recovered six bags of heroin and two bags of marijuana from him, according to court documents.

Soon after his arrest, police contacted his mother and received permission to search his room. The exact date the search was executed is unclear.

During the search, police uncovered a .22 caliber pistol that had been stolen from a Stratford man in a 2005 home burglary and a pair of brass knuckles.

Ten bags of heroin, 10 bags of marijuana and four Xanax pills were found in Ferraro's closet, according to court documents. Two scales with narcotics residue on them and 100 glassine envelopes used for packaging heroin for street sales were also found, court documents said.

In addition to narcotics and gun charges, Ferraro was charged with risk of injury to a minor because he shares his room with a younger sibling, according to court documents.

Ferraro was convicted of narcotics related charges in December 2006 and sentenced to five years in prison, time served after 15 months and five years of probation. If convicted of the new drug and gun offenses, he faces more than three years in prison.